Former world champion cyclist Rohan Dennis has pleaded guilty to a charge related to the death of his wife, fellow Olympian Melissa Hoskins, who was killed in a car incident outside their home in Adelaide on 30 December last year.
Hoskins was struck by a vehicle driven by Dennis, and although he was initially charged with dangerous driving causing death, he admitted to the lesser charge of creating the likelihood of harm.
Jane Abbey KC, representing Dennis, informed the court on Tuesday that both the defense and prosecution had agreed to drop the original charges, with an aggravated charge of creating the likelihood of harm being brought instead.
“What is agreed that will happen today is that there will be a plea to count three … the original charges will be dropped,” Ms Abbey said in the court to magistrate Justin Wickens.
The charge acknowledges that Dennis’s actions were reckless, though it does not hold him responsible for his wife’s death. “So there was no intention of Mr Dennis to harm his wife and this charge does not charge him with any responsibility for her death,” she said.
Dennis, 34, who retired from cycling in 2023, will be sentenced at a later date.
Mr Wickens told the court that Dennis was driving while his wife was near or on the vehicle, either knowing it was likely to cause harm or being recklessly indifferent to the potential for harm. The offense was considered aggravated because the couple was in a relationship.
Hoskins, 32, sustained serious injuries in the incident and was taken by paramedics to Royal Adelaide Hospital for treatment, where she later passed away.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a five-year driving ban.
Dennis, who pleaded guilty, was released on bail and is set to be sentenced in the district court on 24 January.
Furious, he struck a plea deal to a lesser charge, does that mean it was a lesser death? Or the death of a lesser human, or a lesser Mum, or a lesser wife, or a lesser champion cyclist?
— Shelley Roylance #CeaseFireNow #VotedYes (@RoylanceShelley) December 10, 2024
Hoskins was laid to rest in her hometown of Perth in January this year, and a public memorial service was held in Adelaide in February, where Dennis attended with their two children.
Hoskins, a world champion and two-time Olympian, received tributes worldwide following her death. Hoskins and Dennis married in 2018.
Hoskins competed in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics in the team pursuit and was part of the squad that won the 2015 world title in the same event. Dennis, a two-time world champion in the road time trial, also won silver in the team pursuit at the 2012 Olympics and bronze in the road time trial at Tokyo 2020.
Dennis made history in 2015 by becoming the seventh Australian to wear the Tour de France yellow jersey and also won the 2015 Tour Down Under.
On social media, users were angry at the lesser charge. One wrote: “Furious, he struck a plea deal to a lesser charge, does that mean it was a lesser death? Or the death of a lesser human, or a lesser Mum, or a lesser wife, or a lesser champion cyclist?”
